


Hate List.

by recklesserenade



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ballet, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, M/M, Other, Slow Burn, eruri - Freeform, implied erwinxmarie, more tags will be added in the future
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29966850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/recklesserenade/pseuds/recklesserenade
Summary: The thought of having to see him every day from now on was a nightmare. The black haired boy seemed to know exactly how to get on his nerves. He hated his attitude, his snarky comments, the way his own hands seemed to fit perfectly on his hips everytime he picked him up and oh- the way he was starting to fall for him.
Relationships: Levi Ackerman/Erwin Smith
Comments: 12
Kudos: 50





	1. his smile.

**Author's Note:**

> hiiii! seems like all i do is write about these two, can you blame me?  
> my knowledge on ballet or on how dance academies work is zero,,, google will be my best friend through this fic but i just couldn't get the idea out of my mind!^^

If Erwin could make a list of all the things he hated it would consist of just a few things. Loud places, unloyal people...the metro ride from the academy back to his apartment. Not many things seemed to get on the man’s nerves, he was usually - if not always - a chilled person, strict and hardworking when it came to one of the things he loved the most. When the blonde saw on TV a special of The Nutcracker at the ripe age of 5 he begged and begged for days so his mother could take him to ballet lessons. There was no way she could say no to those bright, hopeful and excited blue eyes.

That’s how it started, all through his life ballet had been a fundamental part of his life. It was what he knew best and he enjoyed it quite a lot. Now he was nothing like the excited five year old that stepped into the dance studio almost twenty years ago, he was so much taller and muscular. The man stood at around 6 feet 2, one would assume that someone that tall, and that toned would be clumsy when it came to the gentle moves and positions he practiced everyday but it was quite the contrary. It was an added bonus that his strength helped him lift the other dancers up like it was nothing, as easy as lifting a piece of paper.

The Shingashina dance studio was a second home to the man, besides it being an academy for young aspiring ballet dancers it prepared their dancers to put on what could be described as the best shows in the entire country. Erwin was proud to say he belonged there. As always they started try-outs for new people to be accepted into the academy and to be considered for their newest number and to be part of the studio. There were rumors around about what they would be performing by the end of the year but Erwin had heard from Petra, one of the dancers, that they would be choosing Swan Lake. 

Marie who was only a few years older than Erwin was the person in charge of the auditions, the blonde petite woman was the best dancer in the studio and that came with perks. She trained some of the kids and was in charge of filtering who made it in and who was out. That morning when Erwin finally arrived she approached him, a warm smile on her lips. 

“I didn’t think I was gonna see you here today,” she sat on the bench that was by the lockers while the man left his bag inside, leaning back against the cold metal. “Marie. How many times am I going to have to kick you out from here? I may be okay with this but the others-” he looked around and shook his head. Whenever Erwin was in the man’s changing room Marie managed to pop up, it was just because _that’s the only time when you’re not busy, Erwin_. The woman laughed and stood up from where she was, “I need your help, big guy. Auditions start in…” she checked her dainty small watch “twenty minutes.”

“Yeah, I know that already.” 

“You’re going with me and helping me pick the best of the best. We’re going to be seeing...at least thirty people? They’re all in their twenties, some have experience, some come from other dance schools,” the blonde continued as they made their way outside of the changing room, “there’s just a lot going on. And I know you have a great eye for this, so...please?”

Erwin scratched the back of his head, he didn’t have much to do besides practice and hang around the place so Marie’s proposal sounded exciting. He nodded. “How many do we have to pick?” “Ten. We’re looking for people that are at _our_ level.” It sounded a bit cocky but Marie was right, the two of them were at the top of list of dancers.

This explained the small group of people that were outside the building, Erwin thought. He had seen a few familiar faces in there and he was excited to see what they had to bring to the company. 

The man patiently waited for the twenty minutes to go by before making his way into one of the dance rooms on the second floor. The sun coming through the windows lit up the room, reflecting on the mirrors and heating up the large space. Marie was already by the small table they had set up, going through some files when Erwin took a seat next to her. “Marie those are more than thirty people-” the man started to whine, fingers looking through the dancers profiles quickly. “Shush. Time to be professional.” The woman smiled and adjusted her ponytail, gesturing Erwin to get up when a ‘small’ group of ten people walked in.

She introduced both of them, giving a speech on how lucky they were to even be considered for this opportunity, how it could possibly change their lives. Then one by one they danced, Erwin’s eyes carefully watching every move, only looking away to stare down at his notepad, leaving a few commentaries on each of the dancers.

Almost two hours later and after a well deserved break, Erwin looked at the names they wrote on the notepad. “Nine out of ten, if we don’t find the last one they’re gonna be pissed at us.” Marie rolled her eyes, walking back inside the room. “They won’t. Why would they be? Now call in the last group in, please.”

The man opened the door, greeting the group as they walked in. He quickly counted them, there were nine instead of ten. He felt bad for whoever it was that didn’t make it but they had to continue, locking the door so they wouldn’t be disturbed before he went back to his seat.

It was...bad. The entire group sucked, Erwin didn’t understand how most of them came from prestigious expensive dance schools, what were they teaching them? How to be sloppy? How to not stand straight and hold a good posture? “Well, thanks everyone for coming. You will be hearing from us soon if we decide to work with one of you,” a lie. Erwin smiled, even if he knew none of them would make it, he didn’t want to ruin their mood for the rest of the day. He made his way towards the door, opening it for them. He was about to close it and go back to Marie when a voice stopped him,

“Oi.”

Erwin raised his eyebrows, the man was leaning against the wall, a bag on his shoulder.

“I was supposed to be in that group.” 

Erwin took a second to take in the other’s looks. He was slender, muscular. Pale skin, except from the pink dusted on his cheeks, grey eyes and jet black hair that framed his face perfectly. Erwin also noted how small he was compared to him, he had to look down to face him, “Well…” he sighed, “next year make sure you’re on time.” The short man’s expression changed, it was disappointment or sadness, he looked rather angry. “Have a good day.” With that Erwin made his way back into the room, just when he was about to tell Marie about the poor guy outside there was a knock on the door. Multiple knocks. “You go, Marie. I don’t wanna be the one to crush his dreams,” the man said in a dramatic tone before chuckling, earning a smile from the blonde. 

Ten minutes went by, maybe Marie knew the kid. Erwin took this time to look at the only piece of paper that was at the desk, _Levi Ackerman_ a picture of the same man that was outside was attached, he read through his profile, height, weight, he seemed...ordinary. He was sure he had never heard of him before and according to the information the man wasn’t in any dance school or any academy.

“Erwin you monster,” Marie walked back in with the guy- Levi, his lips were curled up in a slight smirk. “You should’ve made him come in.” Erwin turned around, a confused look on his face, “now why would I do that? He knows the rules, right?” He shot him a look, getting a nod in return. “Ah- sometimes I forget you never read my messages. The kid that won that competition a month ago? I showed you the video?” 

“I don’t remember,” the man admitted. “Too bad. We’re watching him dance and letting him audition.” Marie stated, going back into her spot on the desk. 

A quiet “He’s amazing. If we get him in the academy the headmistress will be happy and the other studios will be so jealous,” came from Marie. “Oh.”

It took Levi a moment to set his things aside, he barely looked at Erwin while being in the room. Then his small dance routine started and Erwin couldn’t take his eyes away from him. The way his body moved so gracefully, the movements came so natural yet they were so precise and perfect, his pointé shoes were a bit worn out but that didn’t stop him from letting Erwin see one of the best performances he had ever seen. It felt like he was watching The Nutcracker when he was a kid again.

A silence fell in the room when the man ended his routine, long fingers pushing some of the black locks behind his ear. “When do I start and where can I go to complain about him?” Levi asked, giving Erwin a short glance. “Who says you’re in?” The man replied, eyebrows furrowing.

“Why wouldn’t I be in?” The shorter man took a step closer, his head tilting up to stare into blue eyes. “I know I’m good. Would you guys like it if I decided to go to the Trost studio instead? Maybe they could appreciate my talent, seems like you guys-” he stopped himself just to correct what he was about to say, “no, just you. You don’t have taste.” 

Marie was the one to step in, shaking her hands a bit. “Oh, Levi. Please don’t mind Erwin, he’s...a grumpy old man.” She laughed, trying to lift the mood. The tension between the other two dancers being almost palpable. “Now how about I go with you down to the office? I’d like it if you registered right away so you can start coming here tomorrow.” The woman led him outside and Erwin sighed, when he looked at the door he noticed how Levi looked back at him, the cockiness in his smile made him dislike the guy even more. 

He’d be adding a new thing to the list of things he hated, Levi Ackerman’s cocky ‘I’m the most talented ballet dancer in the entire universe’ smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!! i really hope you enjoyed that,  
> i'll try to make the chapters for this fic a bit longer so i can improve and get better at this!  
> kudos n comments are welcome and so so soooo appreciated ^^♡  
> *i'll be coming back to re-read and fix any typo or mistakes! this isn't 'betaed' n english isnt my first language TT_TT


	2. his touch.

For the first few weeks it was easy for Erwin to avoid Levi. Ever since their embarrassing first encounter it was obvious the two weren’t going to get along. The way Levi acted rubbed him the wrong way and he knew that if the two ended up in the same room it would end up in bitter remarks going back and forth, tension building up and making everyone uncomfortable. 

On the other hand, the topic of _Levi_ was something he couldn’t escape. Everyone talked about him and how good he was. Now it wasn’t like Erwin was jealous or felt threatened by having a good dancer in the company, it was clear that they wouldn’t be fighting against each other for the same roles, but the fact that he seemed to be nice- scrap that, decent to others made him wonder what the fuck was up with the guy. He only allowed Marie to talk about him to him, mostly because he liked her and he knew she was excited to have Levi around. 

“It's official,” were the first words Erwin heard when he got out of the changing room. She was going to walk inside but he caught her just in time, “what? You’re going to stop walking in here whenever you feel like it?”

“Hah. If there’s a chance I might catch you changing...I’ll keep walking in,” Marie jokingly flirted. Well maybe _‘jokingly_ ’. They had a weird relationship, they were friends yet they managed to act and talk the same way couples would do. Erwin thought that maybe they were both scared of losing each other in case the friendship turned into something else and ended up bad but they never talked about it. And like it was mentioned before, Erwin liked her. It would be impossible not to, her features were delicate. Big eyes with the cutest button nose, like a clean copy of tinker bell but with long sand blonde hair that ended in curls at the tips. She caught Erwin's attention the minute they saw each other for the first time and they’ve been _just friends_ since then. 

“You’re gross, Marie.” Erwin smiled and patted the top of her head. “Well? What’s official?”

“Swan lake!” She said excitedly before lightly face palming herself. “Swan lake,” the woman repeated, quieter this time. She started leading the way outside into the small patio the building had, a few of the dancers were sitting together, talking, some smoking.

“The last time they did swan lake was what- ten years ago?” Erwin asked, Marie nodded while lighting up a cigarette. “Mark my words. Historia Reiss as Odile and, hear this, the beautiful, talented, outstanding Marie as Odette.” He leaned against the wall, rays of sunlight warming up his body. 

“Oh, I wish.” She smiled dreamily, staring up at the sky for a second. “But rumor has it they’re switching things up.”

“What do you mean?”

“They want a swan prince instead of a princess.” 

“Huh? Anyone in mind? That Arlert kid maybe?” Erwin looked around, spotting the blonde boy near them. “He’s good.” 

“You’re going to...how do I say this,” she took a long drag on her cigarette, blowing the smoke before continuing, “hate this. I was talking to the headmistress this morning, she’s been watching the practices and all and...yup, you guessed it. She wants levi.”

“As Odile? That would make sense, honestly.”

“Dual role, Erwin. Odile and Odette. “

Erwins head tilted back against the brick wall, “do you understand how much his ego will inflate? He’s gonna get so annoying, even more annoying than usual.” 

“Be quiet now, you don’t even know him.”

“Don’t need to know him that well to know he’s annoying.” 

Just as the man muttered those words was when the doors to the patio opened and Levi walked in, the short man waved at Marie - clearly avoiding Erwin before he went to sit by himself, earbuds on as he enjoyed the sunlight on his skin. 

“When are they making this official?” Erwin asked, eyes darting to where Levi was sitting before looking back at his friend. “Hm..maybe friday? and -“ The woman stopped herself, shaking her head. “You’ll find out later. Are we still on for dinner later?” She quickly changed the subject, Erwin thought nothing of it as they resumed their conversation glad that the ‘Levi talk’ was over. 

The way the academy worked wasn’t like the others in town, some of the dancers get paid to teach the younger kids and Erwin was in charge of a group of little kids, from 10 to 13. It was fun and he loved that he was able to make an impact on them, his love for this was transmitted and made the kids happy to have him as their instructor. Also he needed the money, it was a win-win situation. The class ended at the same time as usual, five pm sharp. 

He felt tired, his feet practically dragging him to the changing room that was on this floor of the academy. 

Since he had plans with his friend later he decided on having a shower here instead of going all the way back home. He grabbed his things before he made it into one of the small cubicles. 

He stood under the warm water for quite a moment, humming. He heard how the water on the cubicle next to his was turned on as he washed his hair and body, rinsing off and standing under the water one more time. His back muscles were thankful for the soft stream of water, he already felt less tense. 

After turning off the shower and drying himself off with the towel he wrapped it around his waist, making his way back to where the lockers were. He took his bag out and sat on the small bench as he looked through his things. 

“Hey big guy.” Levi walked right by Erwin, the taller man was relieved that he at least had his underwear on already. He ignored Levi's words, turning around and pretending to look for someone else. 

“Are you talking to me?” 

“Who else if not you?” 

Erwin looked at him for a second, water droplets were still clinging to Levi's shoulders, some trailing down to his chest. He looked away to pull on his shirt, “I don't know. Didn’t think you’d want to talk to me.” 

A smile, “well you thought correctly.” The man turned around and started to dress himself. 

“You’re something else,” Erwin chuckled, closing the locker door when he finished getting dressed. “Why say hi then, hm?”

“Tsk. Erwin.” Levi rubbed at his temples with delicate fingers. “Stop asking me questions. Now leave, have fun at your little date.” He made a ‘shoo’ motion with his fingers, glancing at the taller man. 

Without a proper goodbye the man walked outside. He probably would like marie more if it wasn’t for the fact that she told everyone _everything._

Friday came by quicker than expected. Erwin never showed up at the academy those days, he enjoyed having a day during the week where he could sleep all the way until noon and not worry about accidentally dropping someone while practicing arabesque lifts. He would be lazy and...human, not Erwin the danseur. 

A hand rubbed sleepily on thick blonde eyelashes. “Hnng...” Erwin's face hid on his pillow. If it wasn’t for the constant buzzing of his phone he would still be asleep. It took him a minute to fully wake up and get up from bed, opening his window and shivering slightly at the crisp morning air. He rubbed at his arm in an attempt to warm up before taking his phone. A few missed calls from Marie and a couple of texts, from her as well. 

‘you have to come’

‘like right now erwin im not messing with u’

‘????? it’s 10??? wake up ‘

‘ h u r r y.’

Erwin's eyebrows furrowed together, he quickly typed a reply letting the woman know he’d be there as soon as possible. He took his time getting breakfast, reading some news on his phone and getting ready before making his way to the metro station. 

His phone kept on buzzing from texts with Marie through the entire thirty minute ride, he didn’t bother to check on the texts, instead he just focused on getting to the academy. Apparently Erwin had the world’s worst luck, he walked in at the same time as Levi who immediately shot a “How was the date?” with a snarky smile, they hadn’t seen each other since they were alone in the changing room. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” The other man replied before looking around, spotting Marie by the big board of announcements that was at the entrance. 

“Erwin! Levi!” She waved her hands excitedly. “You two come here! Now.” Marie had a bright smile, pointing over and over at the sheet of paper that was placed there with a silver thumbtack. “Did you get a role?” Erwin asked before his eyes scanned the words, a mix of emotions starting to arise. Happiness, nervousness and... if ‘ugh’ was an emotion, that's what he was feeling. 

**DOUBLE ROLE, swan queen + black swan: LEVI ACKERMAN.**

**PRINCE SIEGFREID: ERWIN SMITH.**

A gentle hand settled on Erwin's shoulder, squeezing it gently. “Congrats, Blondie. I’m definitely not looking forward to our rehearsals.” There was that smile again, accompanied with another squeeze at his shoulder before the hand slowly slid away, touching his arm for a bit too long.

Was it too late to quit the company?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi there! hope u enjoyed that,  
> from the next chapter on we're gonna have more interactions between levi n erwin!!  
> kudos n comments are appreciated <3 hope ur all having a wonderful weekend  
> find me on: [tiktok](https://www.tiktok.com/@recklesserenades) ! let's talk!


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